Automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) are commonly used in healthcare facilities, such as hospitals, to provide healthcare professionals, such as nurses, with automated access to medication without requiring the pharmacy to fill patient-specific cassettes of unit-dose medications, which would then have to be delivered to the particular nursing unit and stored in non-automated medication cabinets or carts. In contrast, ADCs are computerized drug storage devices that allow nurses to automatically dispense medications to fill prescriptions near point of care, while at the same time tracking and controlling drug distribution.
Although ADCs have provided nurses with quicker and easier access to a patient's medications, the nurse is still required to spend a certain amount of time interacting with the ADC to dispense and restock medication. The more time and effort expended dispensing the medication, the less time the nurse has to directly interact with the patients to provide patient care. Considering the increasing numbers of patients who are admitted to healthcare facilities each year and the budgetary constraints on hiring additional healthcare professionals to care for these patients, every minute of a nurse's shift becomes even more valuable.
Furthermore, because the nurses are dispensing medication from an ADC storing a number of different medications, the potential for dispensing the wrong medication or the wrong dose of medication exists, especially in pockets that do not have a locked lid. This potential increases as nurses attempt to retrieve medication more quickly to enable them to return to their patients' bedsides.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved system and method for dispensing medication that allows healthcare professionals to dispense medication for the patients under their care in a more rapid, efficient, and accurate manner.